Jeremiah 10:1-4    ^[1] Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:  ^[2] Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven;  for the heathen are dismayed at them.  ^[3] For the customs of the people are vain:  for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.  ^[4] They deck it with silver and with gold;  they fasten it with nails and with hammer, that it move not.

     Does the above verse make you think of a Christmas Tree?  Well it should   ...   and then again maybe it shouldn't.  There are some Christians that would have you believe that these verses alone basically are instructing Christians not to have a Christmas Tree in there home.  Are they right?  Should we stop celebrating Christmas with a tree or maybe just stop celebrating it all together?

     In this article we will discuss not only the above but also where the Christmas holiday originated and how we should think about celebrating it.  Is there a "do" and "don't" list that we as Christians should follow concerning Christmas?

     Basically it is a "fact" that, along with Easter, the Christmas holiday started out as a pagan celebration.   Since that is the case   ...   should we really be celebrating it?  And how did we, as Christians, start celebrating a pagan holiday?

     Celebrating Christmas actually started when the Catholic Pope, Julius I, declared in 350 AD that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25th of each year.  Apparently he was trying to appease the many pagan citizens of Rome and hoped by including their pagan celebrations as part of Christianity it would help them to possibly convert to the Christian faith.

     There were basically two different pagan groups in Rome at that time in history and they both celebrated the Winter Solstice for many years prior to the birth of Jesus.  One of those pagan cultures celebrated this winter holiday honoring Saturnalia who was their god of agriculture.  Another group celebrated December 25th as the birth of the "Son of Isis" who was their god of nature.  So evidently, from the Pope's perspective, since Christians didn't have a day to celebrated the birth of Christ why not declare this time also as the birth of Jesus Christ.  That way, all groups will be satisfied and the Christians would now have a new holiday.  Most historians agree that celebrating this holiday didn't catch on until it was first celebrated in Germany.

     I can say without even a little doubt ... absolutely not !  You may well ask, "Well if He wasn't ... what day was He born on?"  First off, does it really matter?  Jesus never said anything that would lead us to believe that Christians should celebrate His birth.  He did tell us, however, how to celebrate His death.  ( see I Corinthians 11:23-26 )   When you look at the four gospels only two of them even mention His birth, Luke and Matthew.

     Well what do the scriptures say about His birth?  Can we at least figure out a time of the year?  We know from the book of Luke that there were shepherd's watching their flocks.  Now during the cold winter months we know that shepherds were not out with their flocks, that is just plain history.  A second thing we also see in the book of Luke is that our Lord parents came to Bethlehem to register in a Roman census.  The Roman census was never done in extreme or cold weather.  So with our scripture in mind ... we know it definately wasn't in December.

Luke 2:1-8    ^[1] And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.  ^[2] (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  ^[3] And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.  ^[4] And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  ^[5] To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  ^[6] And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  ^[7] And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  ^[8] And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

     But for those that are still curious ( like I am ) ... we can still tell about what time of year He was born.  And we can base this on the birth of John the Baptist which is also in the book of Luke 1:24-36.  Some of the verses are show below.  Please read the entire section in your bible.

Luke 1:34-36    ^[34] Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?  ^[35] And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshdow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.  ^[36] And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

     So we know that, based on the book of Luke, Elisabeth had been with child for "six months" at the time that the Holy Ghost came upon Mary and blessed her with the seed which would be "The Son Of God, Jesus Christ".  So if we can somehow figure out approximately when John the Baptist was born ... we only need to make a small calculation to know approximately when Jesus was born.  For the entire story of John's father Zacharias and his mother Elisabeth, please read Luke 1:5-25.  Some of the verses are show below.  Please read the entire section in your bible.

Luke 1:5     ^[5] There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest name Zacharias, of the course of Abia:  and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

Luke 1:8     ^[8] And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,  ^[9] According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the Temple of the Lord.

     So we see that John's father Zacharias was serving as a priest in the temple in Jerusalem during what is known as the course of Abijah when he got the news that his wife Elisabeth was having a son.   Now most historians agree that the "Course of Abijah" would have occured during the middle of our month of June and when he returned home, during June, his wife conceived.

Luke 1:23-24     ^[23] And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.  ^[24] And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived ....

     Now that we know that John The Baptist was born sometime during the last part of the month of June ... we can figure out about what time of the year Jesus was born based on the following verse:

Luke 1:36     ^[36] And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age:  and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

     So, when the angel of the Lord came upon Mary she was told that her cousin Elisabeth was six months pregnant ... and we know from the above that she delivered close to the middle of the month of June.  So if we count from the middle of June for "three" more months we come up with the middle of the month of September for the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ !

     I personally believe that Jesus was born in September during " Rosh Hoshanah " which is also known as the " Feast of Trumpets " by biblical Christians.  It is basically the Jewish New Year.  That is when the shofars are sounded every year.  It is also when I believe our Lord will return for his saints:

I Thess. 4:16    ^[16] For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

I Cor. 15:52    ^[52] In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump:  for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

     The first known use of a Christmas tree or evergreens to celebrate Christmas was evidently in 1521 in the Alsace region of Germany.  You should note here that at that point in time they " did not " use these decorations as part of some pagan celebration and more than likely didn't realize that pagan religions used them.  But instead used them as part of the celebration of Christ's birth.  The people that Jeremiah was referring to, from my best knowledge of history, did not use evergreen trees but instead cut down a tree with no leaves, like an oak tree, to signify the death of their god.  So there is " no " relationship between the two.

     In fact there is a story that quite possibly Martin Luther started the whole tradition of the use of an evergreen tree.  The story goes that he was walking home one evening and composing a sermon when he noticed the beauty of the stars coming through the evergreen trees.  To show his family this beauty he cut down an evergreen, brought it into his home, and then put lighted candles on it to signify the stars.

     There is no evidence that the old pagan custom of bringing in a tree to honor their god had " anything " at all to do with the Christmas Tree tradition that we celebrate today.

First lets go back to what we read in Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 10:1-4    ^[1] Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O house of Israel:  ^[2] Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven;  for the heathen are dismayed at them.  ^[3] For the customs of the people are vain:  for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.  ^[4] They deck it with silver and with gold;  they fasten it with nails and with hammer, that it move not.

     So Jeremiah ( who's word was and is inspired by God the Father ) tell's us that we should not be like the heathen.  That God's people "should not" follow their practice of cutting down a tree and then decorate it with silver and gold.

Secondly we discovered the following:

     Celebrating Christmas actually started when the Catholic Pope, Julius I, included this "pagan holiday" into the Catholic religion "knowing that" it was a pagan celebration of the birth of their God.  He hoped that by doing so the Pagan's would be more "willing" to be part of the Christian faith.  "Easter" is also a pagan celebration of the goddess "Ishtar" and also included in Christianity to appease the Pagans.  (But that is another story!)

Thirdly we discovered that Jesus Christ was not born on December 25th:

Luke 1:36  ^[36] And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

     Since we discovered that John the Baptist was apparently born in what we call the month of June .... Jesus would have, based on scripture, been born in the month of September.

Fourthly, another point:

     The Winter Solstice, which is celebrated by the Pagans, actually occurs on December 21st ... not on December 25th.  So celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December is a "totally" different day then that used by the Pagans.  Close but different for sure.

And the verdict is:

With all the evidence that we have, be it Biblical, Tradition, and/or historical ....

Should we as Christians celebrate a pagan holiday?

Why Not?

     If you are celebrating December 25th of each year as the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, even knowing that He wasn't born on that day ... and your celebration centers around His birth and not some funky pagan reason.  Then there is really no reason that I can see why we shouldn't do so....

Merry Christmas Everyone!

     

If you have not already done so, please consider trusting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

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Last modified: Wednesday, December 5 2012